Highly Dangerous Toy!

[Freedomoflight]

Someone on another forum I frequent posted this, and I am sure glad they did, as other people on that forum have this toy, and I myself was eyeing it for my caique....

this is the toy in question.


This is what happens when a sun conure throws the toy off his cage, and the toy breaks open. It looks like it is filled with sand, right? Wrong! That stuff is metal! It was reported as being shrapnel like!
Here is the original post-
Well, as much as I dislike saying it, I've found another 'trusted' toy that shouldn't be played with by our fids.

The toy is has a pink base that is shaped like a flying saucer and has 3 semi-hard plastic things coming up out of it. The plastic things end in little balls. It is designed as a foot toy.

These things come in 3 sizes-that I know of-there are tiny ones for budgies and the like, mid-sized ones for 'tiels and small conures, and then there are the large ones.

On that particular package there is a picture of an Eclectus-I suppose that is to advertise the size of the bird that is to play with the toy.

I got that one for Harry. It's a little big for him, but I figured he wouldn't destroy it as quickly as the ones for 'tiels. Boy was I wrong.

The scary part is what was inside of the base of the toy when he did destroy it. A substance that looked like dried clay mixed with pellets of metal. Some of those pellets weren't just pellets, but shards like shrapnel.

Fortunately Harry ruined his by throwing it from the top of his cage down to the hardwood floor. Had a bird the size of say, an Ekkie been playing with it though, it may have ended up with a mouthful of that stuff.

The base isn't secured together very well, it has a seam that runs through the it and it just snaps shut.

I just thought I would let you all know about this thing in case any of you have one. I didn't think to take a picture of it before I threw it out, but I got mine at Petco and I've seen several stores carry them

I thought I should post this, seeing as other members on that forum had them and immediatly disposed of them upon hearing this.
Anything we can do to keep our fids safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*I know the original post said that the owner did not have a chance to take a picture, but when she posted this, another bird owner who had this same toy for her bird, removed that toy from her birds cage, threw it down and took a picutre of the result.

[cfulhage]

Wow...I have that toy! Ollie hasn't played with it since she was a baby- and back then she couldn't do much damage to it. I'll have to dig around and find mine...

Thanks for the warning!

[LMPego]

Oh My God! I've looked at that one, too. Why would they need to fill the base like that anyway?

[cfulhage]

Originally Posted by LMPego

Oh My God! I've looked at that one, too. Why would they need to fill the base like that anyway?

That's what I'm wondering....I'm pretty sure mine isn't filled with anything-but I'm going to find out once I find it!

[Freedomoflight]

Seriously.. the bird who threw it from the top of his cage was a jenday conure.. and the person who took it from her bird had a maroon belly.....
its scary. Tell us what you find- when you locate the toy. It will be interesting to see.

[cfulhage]

Well, here is a pic of the toy before I cracked it open...

And the after picture. It's really hard, I tried to pry it out with a screwdriver, but I couldn't I couldnt scrape anything off of it either. Maybe that one had been dropped a few times before, and by the time it finally broke open it looked like that... It looks like it's been ground pretty fine in that picture, though...

I guess it's there to make it "pop" back upright again.

[mamalovesrico]

Does anyone know who makes the toy? If so, I'd be interested in knowing.

[Freedomoflight]

Yup- Insight toys, the JW company...
still, scary. Its a foot toy... goodness, foot toys are ment to be thrown around... if I had gotten one for one of my birds- who just live to throw stuff off the tops of their cages....

[cfulhage]

Yeah, I have a bunch of toys by them...they are supposed to stimulate your birds brain. That was the only foot toy I have of theirs though.

[Dayna]

Interesting, I carry this line of toys. I will be contacting the manufactoror and my distriburtor with some tough questions! I will pull them off the shelves today.

I wonder if the parakeet sized ones are filled with the same stuff. I can have my husband put the toy through the x ray at the airport to see if it is metal.